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‘Nuclear deal to render Iran first regional energy power’

A SHANA photo of gas installations in southern Iran

A new report says Iran will become the first regional energy power upon the removal of sanctions over its nuclear program.  

A nuclear agreement will allow Iran to become the number one energy player in the Middle East and herald major opportunities for foreign companies, AFP quoted ‘top government officials’ in Tehran as saying Wednesday.

The remarks, at an industry event, underlined the broader political and economic implications, should sanctions on Iran be lifted under a deal, following long-running diplomatic efforts with the P5+1 countries - China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States plus Germany.

Iran has the world's fourth largest proven oil reserves and the second biggest natural gas deposits. Both are seen as long under-tapped and ripe for exploration.

But exports have halved since the US and EU sanctions were imposed on Iran's energy industry in 2012, the report added.

The report quoted Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh as saying at the 20th Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Fair in Tehran that "we have to use the foreign companies that will come to us after the removal of sanctions... to increase exports and access regional markets."

“We hope to prepare ourselves to work with them for a future in which we become the industry's number one in the region," it added.

According to the Petroleum Ministry, 1,200 Iranian companies and 600 international businesses from 29 countries including Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates registered for the four-day exhibition.

Foreign energy companies, which under Iranian law must partner with local firms, are also weighing the cost of doing business against the potential returns, the report noted.

GHN/GHN


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